- Farmer Giles of Ham
- Roverandom
- Smith of Wootton Major
FARMER GILES OF HAM (50th anniversary edition)
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The book was first published in 1949 by Allen & Unwin, complete with illustrations by Pauline Baynes. Indeed the first version of the story predates publication by roughly 20 years, and the tale grew in size and complexity with every new version (of which there were quite a few).
This here book was published in 1999 (hence it is a 50th anniversary edition) and it is edited by Wayne Hammond and Christina Scull. It includes many features unavailable in standard Tolkien volumes containing this story.
The book opens up with a generous introduction which makes head and tails of the story itself, explaining its long journey from first writing to eventual publication, putting it into historical context and analysing it stylistically. The position of this 'Introduction' is however not the best. I personally read it before moving on the the story itself, and also read it after going through the rest of the book, and it actually made much more sense once I had read the story, the first version and the unfinished sequel. The reader loses nothing if he/ she skips the 'Introduction' altogether and only reads it as an analysis and commentary after finishing the rest of the book.
Then follows the story proper, in a facsimile of the first edition (thus readers will be reading it in the same exact layout as it was first published, and will have the opportunity to see all of Baynes' delightful artwork - there is roughly one drawing for every 1.5 pages of the story, and there are also two full-page color illustrations also inserted in this book on better quality paper). Here follows a summary of the tale (from Hammond and Scull's 'Reader's Guide' in 'The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide'):
Ægidius de Hammo, or Giles, a farmer of the village of Ham 'in the midmost parts of the Island of Britain', is awakened one night by his dog Garm, who warns of an approaching giant. Giles drives off the giant by firing a blunderbuss loaded with old nails and other rubbish. Although this deed is accomplished more by luck than skill - the giant thinks that he has been stung by insects - Giles is acclaimed a hero and is given a disused sword by the King. Months later, the kingdom is menaced by a dragon, Chrysophylax, whom the King's knights are reluctant to fight. The people of Ham turn to Giles, especially when they learn that his old sword is Tailbiter, a famous weapon of dragon-slayers. Dressed in makeshift armour, Giles captures the dragon and returns with it to Ham; but Chrysophylax gains his freedom by falsely promising to give the villagers all of his wealth. The King, claiming that the dragon's fortune belongs to himself as lord of the land, sends his knights, together with Farmer Giles, into the country to hunt Chrysophylax. The dragon kills or scatters the knights, but Giles once again is victorious, aided by his sword and his grey mare. He forces Chrysophylax to carry an enormous load of treasure back to Ham, and with the aid of the dragon defies the King. As the years pass, Giles' rank increases, until he becomes king with knights of his own.
Following that is the 'First (Manuscript) Version' of the tale, which in all major points is the same as the one published in 1949. However this gives the interested reader the opportunity to see how a tale grew from its inception. After that is a very short chapter, 'The Sequel', which presents Tolkien's early abandoned continuation to the story and also a brief scheme covering the entire plot of the sequel which never got written.
The final section of the book contains 'Notes'. Of these, the editors say: "At the end of the volume we have added a section of notes (by no means exhaustive) about Tolkien's literary and historical sources for Farmer Giles, uncommon words and phrases, and other points that seem to us of special interest. These are keyed to page numbers, without superscript references in the text, so that those who prefer to read the story and ancillary material without the interruption of apparatus may do so." I personally see this as a weak point, given that the tale itself can be found in many other editions without any notes, so if notes are indeed included, then they should be highlighted and not cast aside. The best (scholarly) approach would have been to add superscripts that would immediately pinpoint a note, rather than let the reader check for which pages do contain these notes.
The present book also contains, for the first time, a map drawn on a full page by Pauline Baynes, on which the locations referred to in the tale can be found. It is not of immediate use but surely comes as a nice addition for those who are more geography-oriented and want a clear layout of the world described.
What the edition lacks - although by no means was this any more than a fancy addition, with no real use - is some facsimile of Tolkien's own script. The first story was written on 26 pages, so probably would have been too much to reproduce in the first place, but the editors could have inserted for the readers' delight the 4 pages or so which make up the notes for the sequel.
Very briefly, the story itself is not really typical for Tolkien as he's known from his 'Middle-earth' books. Though the narrative flows pretty well and keeps the reader involved, in my opinion the two plots (the one with the giant and the one with the dragon), of which the former serves as a catalyst of sorts to the latter (also the main one), do not gel very well. Also the story itself is a 'mock heroic adventure' and as such does not impress very much in itself. Where Tolkien shows excellence is in his literary in-jokes, but these require a well-versed reader for their meaning to really shine through. This is actually where the notes come in very handy, explaining the humourous names and phrases scattered throughout the book, and without which the tale does not have the same flavour (many of them needing a good knowledge of Latin words on the reader's part).
For a person interested to read 'Farmer Giles of Ham', this is surely a very intelligent choice, especially for the notes which facilitate the understanding of Tolkien's rather academic literary humour.
ROVERANDOM (edited by Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond)
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'Roverandom was first published in 1998. In this review I present a 2002 paperback edition of the book: this is a modest, reading edition of the story, in small format. However the contents of this book make it the best choice for someone interested in discovering the context of the story's inception and also in being explained some of the words and notions from the tale.
Here is a summary of the novella (from Tolkien-Online.com):
The tale [...] concerns a dog named Rover. Rover makes the rather regrettable mistake of biting a passing wizard, who turns him into a tiny toy dog.
From this point, Rover is involved in a series of episodic adventures. He is purchased by a little boy, who loses him on the beach. He is saved by a second wizard, and later travels to the moon (where he meets the comical man-in-the-moon) and under the sea in a quest to be restored to his true size and form.
The narrator [...] reminds us much of the narrator of The Hobbit, with his playful interjections of wit and humor. Tolkien, customarily, added bits and pieces of folklore and language play from his vast store of knowledge, giving the story a type of depth that can be enjoyed on more than one level.
The book opens with an introduction by the editors, where we find out that the story was begun most probably in 1925 and was sent to Allen & Unwin after the publication of 'The Hobbit' (when it had reached a more elaborate phase), but was not considered because Allen & Unwin had hoped for a sequel to 'The Hobbit'. Scull and Hammond explain how the story came into being when Tolkien's son Michael lost a toy dog while on holiday at the seaside, and how it grew later on by expansion and emmendation. The Introduction will best be read after the tale, because there are some references made therein which someone not knowing 'Roverandom' will probably not understand.
After the Introduction comes the story proper; there are some linguistic jokes here and there, and some mythology that the author references, as well as some notions derived from Tolkien's early legendarium. To make heads and tails of all these, the editors provide some Notes, which are all grouped in one section at the end of the story. This approach, which Scull and Hammond seem to prefer in other works as well, will allow persons who don't want to be detracted from the tale to read everything in a continuous manner. However, personally I find it tiresome because if the notes are made available, they should be highlighted and not 'hidden'. Other than that, the Notes in themselves are spot-on and will take the interested reader deeper into the story.
Tolkien made five drawings for the tale, and they are all published in this book. However, as the editors explain, they are positioned according to publishing exigencies, and it shows. Three of them are printed in color on the insides of the covers (two on cover 2, and one on cover 3), but because of the small format of the book, they are also relatively small and many of the details are hard to notice. The remaining two drawings are printed inside the book, on the same type of paper as the rest of the story, so they do not stand out. Nevertheless, the originals of these two having been drawn in pen and pencil, there is no apparent loss of quality in the black-and-white reproductions.
As mentioned in the beginning of this review, this is a modest book, but for its contents and the low price, someone who wants to know more of Tolkien's shorter fiction will find it a worthy investment.
SMITH OF WOOTTON MAJOR (edited by Verlyn Flieger)
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This book was first published by Allen & Unwin in 1967, in a hardcover edition with illustrations by Pauline Baynes.
The story talks about the adventures of a man (Smith) in the fabulous land of Faery. The plot is as follows (taken from Wikipedia):
The village of Wootton Major was well-known around the countryside for its annual festivals, which were particularly famous for their culinary delights. The biggest festival of all was the Feast of Good Children. This festival was celebrated only once every twenty-four years: twenty-four children of the village were invited to a party, and the highlight of the party was the Great Cake, a career milestone by which Master Cooks were judged. In the year the story begins, the Master Cook was Nokes, who had landed the position more or less by default; he delegated much of the creative work to his apprentice Alf. Nokes crowned his Great Cake with a little doll jokingly representing the Queen of Faery. Various trinkets were hidden in the cake for the children to find; one of these was a star the Cook discovered in the old spice box.
The star was not found at the Feast, but was swallowed by a blacksmith’s son. The boy did not feel its magical properties at once, but on the morning of his tenth birthday the star fixed itself on his forehead, and became his passport to Faery. The boy grew up to be a blacksmith like his father, but in his free time he roamed the Land of Faery. The star on his forehead protected him from many of the dangers threatening mortals in that land, and the Folk of Faery called him "Starbrow". The book describes his many travels in Faery, until at last he meets the true Queen of Faery. The identity of the King is also revealed.
The time came for another Feast of Good Children. Smith had possessed his gift for most of his life, and the time had come to pass it on to some other child. So he regretfully surrendered the star to Alf, and with it his adventures into Faery. Alf, who had become Master Cook long before, baked it into the festive cake once again for another child to find. After the feast, Alf retired and left the village; and Smith returned to his forge to teach his craft to his now-grown son.
The edition from this review uses a facsimile of the first edition text, complete with the images by Baynes which make the story all the more delightful. Following the story itself is a short but well-written commentary by Verlyn Flieger, placing the story in a larger context. After this come some texts written by Tolkien himself: an explanation on the beginnings of this story, a rather detailed chronology and genealogy of the characters (things which are not detailed in the story itself, but which, once known, add depth to the text) and also an essay with the same name (Smith of Wootton Major), where Tolkien delves into some of the aspects of the tale: allegory, motifs and character typology. This essay also furthers the knowledge of the story and makes the reader more aware of the deeper layers of understanding which 'Smith...' has. After that comes a reproduction of the first extant version of the text, which was originally written by Tolkien both in typescript and then in manuscript. In this section of the book, Flieger treats the issue in a very elegant way, reproducing the facsimile of the original text on the left page and the transcription on the right page.
There are some disadvantages with the facsimiles in the last section: since Tolkien used A4 sized paper to write them and the book is roughly in A5 size, it means the reproduction comes across rather small and is pretty hard to read; the second part of the text, which is in manuscript, is even more difficult to make out because of this. On the other hand, a close inspection pays off, because the transcription silently incorporates the changes made to the typescript and manuscript, while on the left page you'll be able to see all corrections made by Tolkien himself (if you can read the small type).
The final section of the book contains notes: these cover in more detail different issues glossed in the main body of the book (such as names which are just mentioned, or themes, or even language). The only disadvantage with these notes is that they are nowhere signalled in the previous text itself. As such, the reader might not be aware that a certain topic has received a more detailed explanation at the end of the book; and the best solution (albeit somewhat inconvenient) is to glance over the notes when beginning to read each new chapter and see if there are any notes for topics in that chapter, and to what pages they are linked.
In a nutshell, the quality of the book greatly outweighs the drawbacks, and for a person interested to know more about this little jewel in Tolkien's opus, this edition is perhaps the definitive acquisition.
